Method and apparatus for controlling movement of cursor

Abstract

Movement of a cursor on a display screen is controlled in accordance with movement command information from manually operated cursor movement actuation means such as mouse or cursor movement control key. The cursor is moved along a curved line drawn on the display screen, in accordance with the movement command information.

I claim: 
     
       1. In a system for controlling movement of a cursor on a display screen in accordance with movement command information from manually operated cursor movement actuation means, a method for controlling movement of the cursor comprising the steps of: sequentially receiving movement command information from said cursor movement actuation means;   calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the received movement command information;   detecting coordinates on a curved line drawn on the display screen which detected coordinates are in the vicinity of the calculated coordinates;   altering the coordinates of the destination of the cursor to the detected coordinates and   displaying the cursor at the altered coordinates to sequentially move the cursor along the curved line in accordance with the received information.   
     
     
       2. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 1 wherein said detecting step determines whether the detected coordinates on the curved line are within a predetermined area or not. 
     
     
       3. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 1 wherein said detecting step determines whether the detected coordinates on the curved line are within a circle, centered at the calculated coordinates and having a predetermined radius, or not. 
     
     
       4. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 1 wherein said detection step determines whether the detected coordinates on the curved line are on a circumference of a circle which is centered at the calculated coordinates and which has a radius which is sequentially incremented by a unit coordinate. 
     
     
       5. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 1 wherein said cursor movement actuation means produces the movement command information of the cursor in accordance with physical movement actuation of said cursor movement actuation means. 
     
     
       6. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 5 wherein said cursor movement actuation means is a mouse. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor comprising: a cursor coordinate memory for storing coordinate information of the cursor position on a display screen;   display means for displaying the cursor at a cursor position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information stored in said cursor coordinate memory;   cursor movement actuation means for producing command information for movement of the cursor on the display screen;   calculation means for calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the produced command information;   search means for locating coordinates on the curved line which are in the vicinity of the coordinates calculated by said calculation means; and   coordinate altering means for altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to the located coordinates to move the cursor along a curved line drawn on said display screen.   
     
     
       8. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 7 wherein said search means locates any point on the curved line which is within a predetermined range from the coordinates calculated by said calculation means. 
     
     
       9. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 7 wherein said search means locates any point on the curved line which is within the circle centered at the coordinates calculated by said calculation means and having a predetermined radius. 
     
     
       10. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 7 wherein said search means locates any point on the curved line which is on the circumference of a circle centered at the coordinates calculated by said calculation means and having a radius which is sequentially incremented by a coordinate unit. 
     
     
       11. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 7 wherein said cursor movement actuation means produces the command information in accordance with physical movement of said cursor movement actuation means. 
     
     
       12. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 11 wherein said cursor movement actuation means is a mouse. 
     
     
       13. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 7 further comprising a display screen having a dot matrix structure, and wherein the coordinate information represents dot coordinates on the display screen. 
     
     
       14. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor comprising: a cursor coordinate memory for storing coordinate information of the cursor position on a display screen;   display means for displaying the cursor at a cursor position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information stored in said cursor coordinate memory;   cursor movement actuation means for producing command information for movement of the cursor on the display screen;   specified actuation detection means for detecting actuation by an operator of a specified actuator on said cursor movement actuation means and for producing detection information indicative thereof;   calculation means responsive to the command information and the detection information for sequentially calculating a position on the display screen at which the cursor is to be displayed; and   cursor position altering means for sequentially altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to cause the cursor to move onto a curved line displayed in the vicinity of the display position as calculated by said calculation means.   
     
     
       15. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor comprising: a cursor coordinate memory for storing coordinate information of the cursor position on a display screen;   display means for displaying the cursor at a cursor position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information stored in said cursor coordinate memory;   cursor movement actuation means for producing command information for movement of the cursor on the display screen;   specified actuation detection means for detecting actuation by an operator of a specified actuator on said cursor movement actuation means and for producing detection information indicative thereof;   cursor movement control means responsive to the command information for sequentially updating the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to move the cursor in accordance with the command information; and   cursor position altering means responsive to the detection information for sequentially altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to sequentially move the cursor onto a curved line displayed in the vicinity of the position to which the cursor is moved by said cursor movement control means.   
     
     
       16. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor comprising: a cursor coordinate memory for storing coordinate information of the cursor position on a display screen;   display means for displaying the cursor at a cursor position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information stored in said cursor coordinate memory;   cursor movement actuation means for producing command information for movement of the cursor on the display screen;   discrimination means for detecting a specified actuation by an operator;   cursor position altering means responsive to the detecting of the specified actuation by said discrimination means for altering the contents of the cursor coordinate memory to cause the cursor to sequentially move along a curved line drawn on the display screen; and   cursor movement control means responsive to the absence of detecting of the specified actuation by said discrimination means for sequentially updating the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to control the movement of the cursor in accordance with the command information.   
     
     
       17. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 16 wherein said cursor position altering means includes means for sequentially altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to cause the cursor to sequentially move onto a curved line displayed in the vicinity of a positon at which the cursor is to be moved in accordance with the command information. 
     
     
       18. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 17 wherein said cursor position altering means includes means for altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to cause the cursor to move to a display position when the curved line is not in the vicinity of the position indicated by the command information. 
     
     
       19. In a system having coordinate updating means for sequentially updating the contents of a cursor coordinate memory which stores coordinate information of a cursor position on a display screen in accordance with movement command information from cursor movement actuation means for sequentially causing the cursor to move to a position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information, an apparatus for controlling movement of the cursor comprising: discriminating means for determining whether the cursor position indicated by the coordinate information is in the vicinity of a curved line on the display screen or not; and   coordinate altering means responsive to a specified actuation for altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to the coordinates of a point on the curved line when said discrimination means determines that the coordinate information is in the vicinity of the curved line.   
     
     
       20. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 19 wherein said cursor movement actuation means includes means for producing the movement command information in accordance with physical movement of said cursor movement actuation means. 
     
     
       21. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 20 wherein said cursor movement actuation means is a mouse. 
     
     
       22. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 19 wherein said discrimination means includes means for determining whether any point on the curved line exists in the vicinity of the cursor position from the contents of the cursor coordinate memory as updated by said coordinate altering means. 
     
     
       23. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 22 wherein said discrimination means includes means for determining whether any point on the curved line exists within a circle centered at coordinates indicated by the contents of the cursor coordinate memory as updated by said coordinate updating means and having a predetermined radius. 
     
     
       24. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 22 wherein said discrimination means includes means for determining whether any point on the curved line exists on the circumference of a circle centered at coordinates indicated by the contents of the cursor coordinate memory as updated by said coordinate updating means and having a radius, and means for sequentially incrementing the radius by increments equal to a display unit of the display screen. 
     
     
       25. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 21 wherein the specified actuation is the depression of a switch arranged on the mouse. 
     
     
       26. A method for controlling movement of a cursor on a display screen in accordance with movement command information from manually operated cursor movement actuation means, said method comprising the steps of: sequentially receiving movement command information from said cursor movement actuation means;   calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the received movement command information;   detecting coordinates on a curved line drawn on the display screen which detected coordinates are in the vicinity of the calculated coordinates;   altering the coordinates of the destination of the cursor to the detected coordinates; and   displaying the cursor at the altered coordinates, whereby the cursor sequentially moves along the curved line.   
     
     
       27. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 26 wherein the detecting of coordinates includes determining whether the detected coordinates on the curved line are within a predetermined area or not. 
     
     
       28. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 26 wherein the detecting of coordinates includes determining whether the detected coordinates on the curved line are within a circle centered at the calculated coordinates and having a predetermined radius. 
     
     
       29. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 26 wherein the detecting of coordinates includes determining when the detected coordinates on the curved line are on a circumference of a circle which is centered at the calculated coordinates and which has a radius that is sequentially increased in one coordinate unit increments. 
     
     
       30. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 26 wherein the receiving of movement command information includes detecting physical movement of said cursor movement actuation means. 
     
     
       31. A method for controlling movement of a cursor according to claim 30 wherein the detecting of physical movement includes detecting physical movement of a mouse. 
     
     
       32. A method for controlling movement of a cursor on a display screen to move the cursor along a curved line on the display screen, said method comprising the steps of: (a) sequentially receiving movement command information from cursor movement actuation means;   (b) calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the received movement command information;   (c) detecting coordinates on the curved line on the display screen which detected coordinates are in the vicinity of the calculated coordinates;   (d) determining whether the detected coordinates are within a circle centered at the calculated coordinates and having a predetermined radius;   (e) when step (d) determines that the detected coordinates are not within the circle, increasing the predetermined radius by one coordinate unit and repeating step (d);   (f) when step (d) determines that the detected coordinates are within the circle, altering the coordinates of the destination of the cursor to the detected coordinates; and   (g) displaying the cursor at the altered coordinates;   whereby the cursor moves along the curved line.   
     
     
       33. A method for controlling movement of a cursor on a display screen to move the cursor along a curved line on the display screen, said method comprising the steps of: (a) sequentially receiving movement command information from cursor movement actuation means;   (b) calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the received movement command information;   (c) detecting coordinates on the curved line on the display screen which detected coordinates are in the vicinity of the calculated coordinates;   (d) determining whether the detected coordinates are on the circumference of a circle which is centered at the calculated coordinates and which has a predetermined radius;   (e) when step (d) determines that the detected coordinates are not on the circumference of the circle, increasing the predetermined radius by one coordinate unit and repeating step (d);   (f) when step (d) determines that the detected coordinates are on the circumference of the circle, altering the coordinates of the destination of the cursor to the detected coordinates; and   (g) displaying the cursor at the altered coordinates;   whereby the cursor moves along the curved line.   
     
     
       34. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor on a display screen to move the cursor along a curved line on the display screen, said apparatus comprising: a cursor coordinate memory for storing coordinate information of the cursor position on the display screen;   display means for displaying the cursor at a cursor position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information stored in said cursor coordinate memory;   cursor movement actuation means for producing command information for movement of the cursor on the display screen;   calculation means for calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the produced command information;   search means for searching for coordinates on the curved line and within a circle which is centered at the calculated coordinates and which has a predetermined radius;   incrementing means responsive to said search means failing to locate coordinates on the curved line and within the circle for increasing the predetermined radius by one coordinate unit; and   coordinate altering means responsive to said search means locating coordinates on the curved line and within the circle for altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to the located coordinates to move the cursor along the curved line.   
     
     
       35. An apparatus for controlling movement of a cursor on a display screen to move the cursor along a curved line on the display screen, said apparatus comprising: a cursor coordinate memory for storing coordinate information of the cursor position on the display screen;   display means for displaying the cursor at a cursor position on the display screen in accordance with the coordinate information stored in said cursor coordinate memory;   cursor movement actuation means for producing command information for movement of the cursor on the display screen;   calculation means for calculating coordinates of a destination of the cursor on the display screen based on the produced command information;   search means for searching for coordinates on the curved line and on the circumference of a circle which is centered at the calculated coordinates and which has a predetermined radius;   incrementing means responsive to said search means failing to locate coordinates on the curved line and on the circumference of the circle for increasing the predetermined radius by one coordinate unit; and   coordinate altering means responsive to said search means locating coordinates on the curved line and on the circumference of the circle for altering the contents of said cursor coordinate memory to the located coordinates to move the cursor along the curved line.